T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World.

Chapter 386, page 385: So angry my lungs hurt.
The competition had only just begun, and some people's faces had already darkened.

The instructors from various factions at the Star Speakers Academy were already on pins and needles listening to the surrounding discussions.

If there's one side that least wants Mint to shine, it probably wouldn't be the Grion family.

Mint showed no mercy to the academy, making a huge splash during the event, clearly intending to settle scores with the academy.

I can't imagine what Mint would say if she won.

The maids continued to add more materials to the venue.

The two can only combine potions from existing materials; they cannot choose their own, which limits the scope of their potion-making abilities.

Mint, with her hands behind her back, looked around at the pile of materials, touching them with confidence.

Alchemy requires following the theme, while destroying medicinal properties is purely a matter of free rein, allowing one to do whatever one wants, which suits her style perfectly.

Holding the hourglass, Wick, after receiving a signal from his companion, asked, "Ready?"

Seeing that both of them nodded in agreement, he inverted the hourglass and announced loudly.

"The second round of the potion contest, Potion Destruction, officially begins!"

Wick and several referees stood in the center of the arena, using their own magic as a barrier to separate the two and prevent them from directly observing the process during the refining.

Mint and Renee went out together to select ingredients.

The jailer asked in bewilderment, "Eleravie, isn't the way they do this so they can guess the other party's intentions during the material selection stage?"

Elaeva was still stuffing herself with food. She licked the grease from the corner of her mouth and asked a question.

"Does taking it mean I have to use it?"

Renee and Mint were grabbing whatever they could find indiscriminately, carrying it back to their desks with long strides.

They took things, and the maids replenished them. After two or three rounds, the messy items piled up on the small table, and they had no choice but to put them on the ground.

Renee remained calm and methodical.

Mint is still whimsical.

The potion master also discovered that Peppermint's method of removing impurities was not a spur-of-the-moment show of skill; she used the same method when concocting other potions.

After a series of wild swings, the job was done.

This single action saves three steps in the conventional refining process, and its effectiveness has already been proven in the previous round of trials.

I can understand it, yet I can't quite grasp it.

Many people are scratching their heads, wondering how she did it.

"She, she threw in so many conflicting medicinal substances and dared to refine it with such intense heat..." The speaker swallowed hard. "What audacity."

Not to mention the half-baked experts in the stands, even the referees on the field looked at each other in bewilderment.

Watching Renee refine her ingredients is a feast for the eyes; watching Mint refine them is terrifying.

But Mint always manages to get the results she wants by walking a tightrope.

Without any formal training, how could someone achieve such success solely through self-study? Are the people at the Star Speaker Academy out of their minds?
100 years ago, Tina, a magician with almost the same experience and equally outstanding skills, accomplished the feat of improving the potion-making process.

If she hadn't focused on promoting potions to younger generations, her achievements during her lifetime would have been even greater.

In a daze, the magic potion, tempered by the fierce fire of peppermint, was born.

She pinched ice cubes with her bare hands and put them in, then transferred the liquid to another crystal glass, shook it, and swirled it around!

Do you shake finished potions too?
"Okay, that's a wrap~~~"

This cheerful tone was just like the lighthearted energy of someone brewing potions for the people on the boundary between the real and the virtual worlds.

They were so relaxed, it didn't feel like a competition, but rather a performance.

Having learned from his previous experience, Wick went straight up to sit on the potion, only to be stopped by Peppermint.

"I'll do it myself."

Wick was puzzled, but he didn't suspect anything.

Watching her walk so steadily and gracefully was actually quite amusing.

"They may seem unconventional, but they take their work seriously."

The boundary between reality and illusion on the observation deck caused everyone to break out in a cold sweat.

French Fries swallowed hard: "Mint won't..."

"It shouldn't be that bad... She's already realized that Renee isn't aggressive anymore, there's no need to go this far." Jiang Heyi said, sweating profusely.

The hourglass was halfway through, and Renee's work was finished.

The entire audience held their breath in suspense.

The outcome of this match will determine whether the potions will have to compete in a third round.

Kurien asked the potions master beside him, "What potion do you think Peppermint made?"

The potions master hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

"You can't see it either?"

"The ingredients added to the mint potion were too mixed, and a lot of the processed materials were discarded. It seems that... he came up with a plan on a whim, and only finalized his own potion-making plan at the very end."

"Excuse my bluntness, but if an ordinary potion master tries to alter the properties of a potion while refining it, nine times out of ten they will be taught a lesson by the potion itself."

Kurien was puzzled: "Then the mint..."

"I can only say that perhaps she has found her own unique and difficult-to-imitate style of alchemy."

"As the saying goes, there is order in chaos. Her refining process has reached the point where she doesn't need a formula or proportion, but can achieve results simply by relying on her intuition and sense of proportion."

The Potions Master said with concern, "I only hope that the Potions Masters watching today will not abandon their principles and blindly follow suit, unable to distinguish right from wrong..."

The apprentices who had come with the potion master were all covered in sweat.

I originally came to observe, but as I watched, I almost ruined all the experience and knowledge I had accumulated over the years by the techniques used by Mint.

Mint is just like a professional gamer with an unusual keyboard and mouse layout.

If an ordinary person comes to her house and plays a game on her computer without their brain crashing, they're considered a genius.

On the other hand, the high priests of the siren were all eager to try.

"What an interesting refining method! I want to learn it!"

How can we pass this long life without trying something new?

The potion made from mint subtly separated into layers after it came to rest, black on top and white on the bottom.

The liquid medicine is dotted with distinct granular crystals, like twinkling stars.

Renee's potion, on the other hand, was a mesmerizing scarlet, still bubbling in the crystal glass as it had just been made.

Renee's potion-making process was incredibly fast, even by the standards of an ordinary potion master. She kept adding "ingredients" at a rapid pace, so much so that even those who wanted to deduce the medicinal properties from the ingredients couldn't be certain of their own deductions.

"Who goes first?" Mint asked.

Seeing that Renee politely made a gesture, she didn't refuse, but...

She first went to the table and placed the potion she had concocted in front of Renee with steady steps, before turning around to take the portion whose potency she wanted to destroy.

The incident happened suddenly, and Renee, the protagonist of the incident, was only surprised and did not object, and the referee did not say anything.

However, the two consecutive strange reactions made them instinctively feel that... the peppermint potion was not something benevolent.

The destruction of medicinal properties is a test of a potion master's comprehensive abilities.

Without any hints, I gathered useful information from scratch to determine the ingredients of the potion, then created the corresponding potion, completely destroying the magical components and rendering them ineffective.

The Potions Department of Star Speakers Academy often uses this as an assessment for its Potions students.

Mint, who had been out of school for nearly two years, suddenly felt like she was back in college.

Lift the lid, bring it close to the edge, and gently fan away the still-warm steam with your hand. Mint sniffs hard.

"The episode that best conforms to the laboratory rules and regulations," Zhong Zemo said with a smile.

The smell was complex, with a strong sour and astringent taste, making the mint wear a mask of pain, but the twitching of the nose did not stop.

Pour out a little, dip your hand lightly, rub it, and as the magic flows, the mint eyes dart around.

Caught off guard, she picked up the crystal glass and took a small sip. A reckless move; the potion's effects might ruin its potion, making it potentially undrinkable.

Sure enough, as soon as it entered her mouth, Mint's face turned red, and she spat it all out.

The Gryan family, unaware of what was going on, chuckled to themselves.

Even a beautiful girl wouldn't look good gagging, especially when she's bent over coughing with saliva dripping and snot running down her face.

The boundary between reality and illusion gripped everyone's hearts.

But seeing that Renee was just covering her mouth and chuckling, without showing any anxiety or worry, he was instantly reassured.

"Ah...cough cough...ow..."

He smacked his lips at the mint, took another small sip, and then continued vomiting.

"Still drinking?" Tetramorph felt sorry for him.

Seeing this, Renee's smile grew even brighter.

Mint swirled the glass and spat out a bunch of random "pui"s, completely disregarding her image.

"How disgusting... It's supposed to be a potion to neutralize potent toxins, but you added something so sour and astringent... The aftertaste is numb and bitter, so disgusting..."

As she spoke, Mint stuck out her tongue, and tears streamed down her face again.

My tongue felt numb all the way down to the back, almost to the point of being unresponsive.

Renee was trying not to laugh: "It doesn't taste good, it should make you nauseous. Wouldn't it be better to spit out the unabsorbed toxins as soon as possible?"

"You vomited up the medicine too!" Mint said angrily. "Just you wait."

Seeing Mint confidently head to the resource area to collect the potion and begin brewing, the Grelian family stopped laughing.

"No, don't rush... Being able to detect it doesn't necessarily mean you can cure it; this is common in tests of drug efficacy."

Only Renee's mother could find solace in herself.

Having witnessed Mint's alchemy skills, how could a potion master who could discern the difference not be able to refine it?

Moments later, a bottle of pitch-black liquid was mixed into Renee's masterpiece by mint.

After bubbling away for a while, Mint picked it up, shook it vigorously, held it up, and poured it into her mouth as if to show off.

The entire audience stared wide-eyed.

This time, Mint didn't spit it out. Instead, after drinking the last drop, she blew out a small, colorful bubble.

The half-cup of potion that the referee had reserved had completely lost its potency after review.

It's Renee's turn.

She took a deep breath and walked to the black and white potion.

The process is the same as with mint: stir well, smell it first, then touch it, use your magical perception to test it, and take a small sip.

There were no abnormalities, and they weren't even unpleasant to drink.

It has a sour taste with a hint of fruity sweetness.

After pondering for a while, Renee had an idea.

Seeing that she had also begun to concoct new potions, the Grion family felt much more at ease.

"It's just a draw, so we'll have to play a tiebreaker!"

Renee made sure Mint could see the potion she had chosen, and then poured the finished product into the potion with a big smile.

For some reason, Mint smiled so brightly, so very brightly.

The peppermint extract produced billowing white smoke, followed by black smoke.

Before the referee could even get close, the glass shattered, and the liquid inside splashed out, carrying billowing smoke and dust that smeared Renee's face.

An unexpected incident occurred, and the high-ranking mage of the Grelian family, flustered by the situation, nearly forced his way into the arena, but was ultimately stopped by the inner guards.

The referee used magic to clear away the dust and mist. Renee blinked her big eyes, her face was completely black, and she was a little dizzy.

Her long, silvery-white hair had completely turned gray, as if it had been dyed all over again.

On the observation deck, Renee's mother was already criticizing the boundary between reality and illusion, believing that Mint intended to use the competition to retaliate, and that her methods were despicable.

Those who had read the internal guard files kept their eyes fixed on the audience, too lazy to pay attention to this blood relative that even Renee didn't bother to acknowledge.

Off the court, Renee and Mint remained harmonious.

Realizing she had lost, she pressed for more information out of curiosity.

"what have you done?"

"I guessed how you would solve the problem, so I added something good beforehand to trigger the atomization reaction," Mint smiled. "Luckily you didn't pick it up and shake it vigorously, otherwise my plan would have failed. But an elegant young lady like you probably wouldn't do what I do, right?"

The medicinal liquid in the cup has solidified into a clump, completely reacting into medicinal residue.

Peppermint anticipated Renee's actions, which proved useful in preventing the medicine from evaporating.

The outcome is already decided.

In the potion contest, Mint won the first two rounds and took the lead in the overall score.

"Are you so familiar with my refining methods and habits?"

Renee, with a calm demeanor, brushed the dust off her head, displaying a vivid display of snow-white hair—a look that was anything but elegant.

"Back when we were still in the academy, you and I competed so many times. Apart from potions, I didn't have anything I could beat with certainty. Of course, I need to think more, learn more, and memorize more."

"About the academy..."

"I'm too lazy to listen right now. Let's talk about it after the game."

Renee hesitated, but was eventually interrupted by Wick.

"Magic control, how do you two plan to compete?"

Mint shrugged: "She's good at it, let her decide."

"Let's settle this in one match. We'll use magic to repair the puppet's magic array, and at the same time... the matches can interfere with each other."

The two returned to the observation deck to rest, waiting for the maid to move the props to their positions.

As Kurien listened to the potion master's explanation, he also realized the value of mint. Seeing her chatting and laughing with Queen Mirrorheart, he felt a nameless anger rising within him.

She is clearly another Tina, a potential talent who can take Anna's potions to the next level.

Such an outstanding genius was discarded by the Star Speaker Academy, who suppressed her at every turn and ultimately forced her to drop out.

These parasites are even dumber than pigs, selfish and self-serving!
Witnessing firsthand the evil deeds of the Anna nobles at the boundary between the virtual and real worlds, he felt disgusted and threw himself into the Falling Star Sea. He felt deeply sorry for them, thinking that the timing was bad and that the children were even more disappointing, failing to overcome their prejudices and win them over.

The mint was like a sharp knife, causing his heart to bleed.

Without any foundation, a wild mage rises from humble beginnings, excelling and possessing extraordinary talent.

The key point is that, unlike the boundary between the real and the virtual, she was once right in the bowl of the Anna Empire.

It's right here at the Star Speakers Academy.

Once you step into the Mage Tower, you will be branded with the mark of the Empire.

But she dropped out of school...

The more I think about it, the angrier I get, and the angrier I get, the more I think about it.

Kurien took a sip of his cold drink to suppress the flush on his face.

There were seven people at the boundary between reality and illusion, and then there was Mint. They passed through Annamen without entering, and all of them had close ties with the Fallen Star Siren.

I'm afraid the leaders of other countries and races in Anna are secretly laughing now.

"Luckily, Mint dropped out of school."

"Thank goodness that the mint wasn't taken by that guy Kurion."

I don't want to imagine it, but at times like this, people's imaginations are surprisingly good!
Even knowing they would think that way, and be so angry it hurts, I still have to force a smile and treat them with respect, not allowing myself to lose face.

Kurien felt incredibly stifled, with an urge to further increase the price of the boundary between the real and the virtual.

How can this be allowed if no one suffers as a result!

(End of this chapter)